


Labyrinth/Reader-Insert - Jareth’s Child

by writeyouin



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Child Reader, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-21 10:39:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14283153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeyouin/pseuds/writeyouin
Summary: Request: Reader is Jareth's young child & he's overprotective of you to the point where he won't let you leave the castle, but you sneak out while he's in the Aboveground collecting a wished away baby. You wander into the Labyrinth, excited to go adventuring by yourself, but soon become scared (Maybe you get lost in the Firey Forest or fall into an Oubliette). Jareth returns, but panics when he can't find you anywhere in the castle. He switches between Fae & Owl form, & uses his crystals to find you.





	Labyrinth/Reader-Insert - Jareth’s Child

The Underground was a strange and unusual place, full of mystery and intrigue. You knew this because your father, Jareth the Goblin King often told you so; he also told you that among the beauty of his world, there also lay many dangers. You regularly wondered how much of what Jareth said was true, for looking out of the castle window to the bustling city below, you longed to visit it more than ever. How much danger could possibly be in the Goblin City of all places? It was your father’s kingdom and by extension, yours; surely, you should get to visit it. It wasn’t like you were asking to go to the Bog of Eternal Stench or one of the many darker corners of the Underground. All you wanted to do was leave the castle where you’d spent all of your life, but no, your father insisted that you stay put where you were. You’d often tried teleporting like Jareth could, but to no avail; you wouldn’t be able to teleport until your powers were further developed.

You moved from the window, determined that today would be the day you were finally going to visit the city at the very least. With a click of your fingers, you were dressed in your finest clothes, and ready to face your father. The speech was all laid out in your head, as you navigated through the many trick-hallways and illusionary walls to his private chamber. You’d say, ‘Father, I know you still think me a child too young to do anything, but since my magic has developed, it stands to reason that I’m not completely defenceless. With that in mind, I’d like to make a proposition. With your permission, I would like to visit the Goblin city, and before you say no, I’d like you to know that I won’t leave without an escort of your choosing. Do you accept?’

It was simple, concise, and professional. Surely, he couldn’t say no to that. Yet, as you entered his chamber, you found Jareth looking into one of his viewing crystals to the Above Ground, simply waiting for the words that would wish yet another person away.

“Father…” You said meekly, your previous speech jumbling around in your head.

He put the crystal down, knowing that his goblins would inform him when it was time and turning his intense gaze to you; it was a gaze you wished you could muster right then.

“Father, I- I wish to discuss something important.”

“Then you should reflect it in your tone,” Jareth berated. “You are royalty, and royalty does not ask, royalty demands.”

“Yes father,” You bowed your head.

“Go on, say what you will.”

“I want- No. I  **am**  leaving the palace today. I  **will**  go to the Goblin City and I  **will**  go for as long as I want, with a guard of your choice, of course.”

Jareth stared long and hard at you. He’d never allowed you to leave the castle because the Labyrinth was much too unpredictable for a child to handle; at least, that’s what he often told himself to justify the truth. The truth of the matter being that he would die of sheer anguish should you find a taste of adventure and leave him as Sarah had all those years ago; the pain was too much then and it would be too much now. Jareth often tried his best to keep you entertained and within his sight, bringing you back fancy baubles from the Above Ground; he’d take you there too were it not for the fact that a child fae would lose their powers upon entering the realm of no magic.

“You wish to go to the Goblin City?” He raised a sharp eyebrow.

“Yes,” You stood firm under his gaze, the steely look not suiting your usually gentle features.

“Very well. Nosneh,” he called, summoning the tallest and strongest of his goblin guards.

You beamed excitedly as Nosneh stood one step behind you, looking down at his master for commands.

“Nosneh, (Y/N) believes (s)he is ready to visit the dangers of the Goblin City below. Under my command as your ruler, you are to make sure (s)he does not leave this castle, at all.”

Your smile fell, “Wha- Father, that’s so unfair, I-”

“Quiet!” Jareth shut you up with a glare. “You will be ready to leave this castle only when I say you are.”

“Oh, and that’ll be when I’m ninety? Face it, you’re never going to let me go, are you? Even prisoners get rights dad, maybe I should just die, at least that would be more entertaining, or maybe I could-”

The room thundered with Jareth’s fury. He stared you down, making you feel even smaller. “You will stay here and perhaps by the time I’m back, you will have learned some manners. We won’t discuss this again, child.” With that, Jareth vanished, clearly teleporting to the Above Ground where he would come back with some boring human or other who’d been wished away.

You stared at the spot where Jareth had stood, gasping as if you’d been slapped; he hadn’t even bothered to use your name. Fuming, you stomped back to your room, Nosneh in tow. When you got there, you paced back and forth, wondering exactly what you’d done to deserve such treatment. Jareth had told you to make demands and do you had, thinking that would earn his respect at the very least. You shook with rage, the air tingling with the static electricity brought on by your magic. You wondered how Jareth would have acted had his parents treated him the same in his youth. You doubted that he would have complied with such ridiculous demands; he would have probably done as he pleased anyway.

The idea struck you with sudden clarity; that was it, all you had to do was sneak out, an easy enough task for anyone with a brain. Suddenly grinning, you looked to your guard, leading him towards the bathroom, then standing outside the door expectantly. “You can’t go in there with me.”

He nodded, knowing that there was no escape route large enough for a human in the bathroom anyway. Fortunately, you didn’t plan to be a human for long. Once in the bathroom, you opened the tiny slit window, quickly transforming into a raven; sometimes you wondered why you were unable to turn into an owl, but the thought hardly mattered now. Until recently, you were unable to fly as a bird, your fledgling wings needed to develop just a little more. The second, you realised you could soar through the air with a new-found freedom, you’d hidden the ability from your father, lest he have the windows barred.

Weaving around the castle spires, you’d never felt freer; like this, you could go anywhere, never mind just the Goblin City. No doubt, if you did go to the city, you’d quickly be found by one of the palace’s many guards who would drag you back in an instant. So, on you flew, travelling far over the Labyrinth and looking for a good place to land. It didn’t take long to spot a dense forest with many branches that would be easy enough to land on. You perched on a thick willow branch, cutting through the thick foliage and peeking around with eager eyes. Everything was new, exciting and nothing like the stone castle you’d grown to loathe. There were various insects talking as they made their way through the forest, fairies that you’d only heard of and although you knew them to be vermin, you couldn’t help but find them beautiful.

Dropping to the floor in a glide, you transformed back to your usual fae form, spinning around wildly to try and take everything in at once. This was fantastic, nobody would ever think to look for you so far away from the palace. You felt something bounce off the top of your head and looked around to see what had caused it, wondering if it was something else fun to admire. You frowned as you found the cause, two dull looking eyeballs which stopped at your feet. You frowned, bending down to examine them, your outstretched hand recoiling when they moved of their own accord to look back up at you.

“LIVEN UP BOYS!” A call echoed through the forest. “WE HAVE A VISITOR.”

You jumped back as an unusual red creature with a beaked face dropped from the branches, picking up the eyes and placing them into his empty sockets.

Four more appeared, surrounding you and bouncing around wildly. You spun, trying to see all of them. “Hello,” You smiled, keen to meet something that wasn’t a goblin for the first time in your life. “I’m (Y/N), who’re you?”

“WHO’RE WE?! YOU HEAR THAT FELLAS? WITH EARS LIKE THEM, (S)HE HASN’T HEARD OF US,” one of the creatures cackled, removing his ears and throwing them over your head to one of the others who swapped with him.

“Who’s we?” The apparent leader grinned. “We’s the Fire Gang and this is Fiery Forest where everyone plays by our rules.” He tugged his arm off, using it to reach out and wrap around your shoulders, pulling you towards him. The grip was firm and stronger than you were used to, long claws slitting through your tunic and raking the skin underneath until fresh blood beaded at the top.

You let out a hiss of pain, trying to pull away to no avail, “Hey um, I’m sure you don’t mean to but you’re hurting my arm a bit, could you, um, please let go?”

“Aww, your arm hurts?” The leader looked to his gang, “You know what would fix that boys? TAKING IT OFF!”

The group howled with laughter, climbing atop you and using various limbs as ropes to hold you down, linking arms and legs over your body and dragging you lower to the floor; very suddenly, you didn’t want to play the Fire Gang’s games anymore. You struggled against them, trying to get up, though it was useless with four of them against one of you, the fifth examining your arm. He pulled it hard, making you scream.

“DON’T WORRY LITTLE ONE, IT WON’T HURT WHEN IT’S GONE.”

“I’M NOT LIKE YOU,” You shrieked over their chanting. “I DON’T COME APART.”

“Ha, don’t be afraid, you’ll come apart just like us when we’re done.”

“N-no- I-” You cried as white-hot pain took over, your arm dropping uselessly as it became dislocated from the shoulder.

* * *

Jareth was about to peddle his usual speech to a young man who’d wished his first-born away in a moment of frustration, but upon feeling your pain and anguish traverse the realms to him, he left the mortal to his words; all that mattered was you and whatever was causing such a searing heat on Jareth’s arm. Ignoring his task in the Above Ground, Jareth teleported back to the Underground, straight to the castle where you were supposed to be.

Upon finding Nosneh in a blind panic, Jareth lifted him high into the air with his magic, choking the goblin.

“WHERE IS (Y/N)?!” Jareth demanded, fear clouding his mind.

The pressure on Nosneh’s throat was too great for any speech so the goblin pointed out of the nearest window, indicating that you were somewhere in the Labyrinth. Jareth snarled, sending the goblin to his worst torture chamber to suffer for the incompetence. You were somewhere in the Underground in danger, and after Jareth had so clearly ordered you not to go. Despite Jareth’s anger, now was no time for parental reprimands; as the pain in his arm stung more sharply, only a fraction of what you’d be suffering, he only cared about finding you.

Desperate, Jareth summoned one of his crystals, focusing his parental bond into your location and nothing else.

* * *

You whimpered, sniffling in the dark pit of an oubliette that you’d fallen into after managing to use a weak burst of magic against the Fire Gang. Your dislocated arm had reflected in your raven wing, making it impossible to simply fly back home, and now you were stuck thinking about your father and how right he had been all along; the Underground was indeed a ferocious place for those unfamiliar to its dangers. Thinking about the mistakes that had led you there, you wished for your father more than ever.

Feeling your need for him, Jareth traversed the Labyrinth to your exact location, standing above you. Without a moment’s hesitation, he picked you up, hugging you into him.

“What did I tell you?” He asked concernedly.

You hugged him tightly with your one good arm, the other falling painfully by your side. Too dazed to wonder exactly how your father had found you, you simply said what you’d been thinking since your adamant failure, “I’m sorry.”

Jareth shook his head, using hushed tones to comfort you, “Shh now, it’s me who should be sorry.”

Were you in better condition, you would have been shocked at hearing your father apologise, for he never had before, usually claiming that he was correct in all matters.

“My darling,” Jareth whispered. “I know I cannot keep you to myself forever; keeping you prisoner was selfish of me. I promise, when you are recovered and ready, I will show you everything there is to see in this beautiful world of ours, but for now, sleep.”

He rested his hand on your forehead, placing you in a temporary sleep spell that would show you only good dreams until you recovered, then as if he was carrying the most precious of treasures, he took you home where he wouldn’t leave your side, until you bade him to do so.


End file.
